October 01, 2025
Citizens’ assemblies helped Northern Ireland transform a violent past into today’s deliberative politics.
Ambassador Fergal Mythen traces the arc from the New Ireland Forum (1983–84) through national roadshows and town halls to today’s independent citizens’ assemblies, processes that fed into parliament, broadened public understanding, and built “losers’ consent.”
Together, these forums helped reshape how Ireland confronted the Northern Ireland conflict, moving from the divisive politics of the 1970s–80s to a more consensus-driven approach today.
“Parliamentary politics alone couldn’t bring people together … Citizens’ assemblies and national dialogues helped us build awareness and understanding," said Mythen.
Excerpt from a Global Stage livestream at UN HQ on the International Day of Democracy.
Watch more of GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, sponsored by Microsoft, from the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly here: gzeromedia.com/globalstage.
More For You
People vote in the legislative elections in Algiers, Algeria, on July 2, 2026. The electorate, including the diaspora, consists of 24,727,041 registered voters. These elections will elect the 407 members of the tenth legislature of the People's National Assembly (APN), with a mandate of five years.
Billel Bensalem/APP/NurPhoto
Algerians are headed to the polls today to elect their next members of parliament. However, hopes for true democracy look more remote than ever.
Most Popular
In addition to the health concerns from the Ebola outbreak, the UN is sounding the alarm on a potential development crisis in Africa sparked by the disease.
Protesters hold flamingo-shaped placards and a large representation of a flamingo as they demonstrate against the government, following weeks of protests against a planned luxury resort backed by a company linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, on an environmentally sensitive part of the Adriatic coast, in Tirana, Albania, on June 22, 2026.
REUTERS/Valdrin Xhemaj
The protests in the small Balkan country were touched off by the start of construction on a seaside luxury resort linked to US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
© 2025 GZERO Media. All Rights Reserved | A Eurasia Group media company.